First off, my sincere apologies. I feel a bit ashamed. You see, it was my intention to keep up with this blog on a more regular basis…at least every week or two. As you can see, I’ve failed miserably over the last 2 months! All I can offer is my apology and a promise to do better with it in the future. The explanation behind this shortfall does, however, offer an opportune moment to tell a story. The story of a job.
Over the years I have done a variety of things, many of which grew out of hobbies or interests. These are the best sorts of work to do because while work is always work and you are on someone’s schedule even when it is only your own self-imposed schedule (that you imposed to meet some sort of commitment to a client of course) …you are on somebody’s clock…….but at least if you are passionate about the work it does not seem so much like work–even on a bad day. This is an oft repeated concept–so much so that it sounds cliche and almost meaningless……but the point, I have found, is a valid one. The types of work that bring the most joy for me are the ones where I can use my technical and craftsmanship skills to solve problems while educating others when possible. I am the sort of person who likes designing, building, and repairing things and teaching others about them and how they work. (Certain things more than others, of course.) This blog is part of my overall plans moving forward in that direction.
From 1997 through 2015 I was involved in the aerial survey business. Photogrammetry, remote sensing, mapping, surveying, aerial photography, Lidar, etc. For now, I will not go into extreme details about the different positions held or the day to day operations that were entailed. It did, however, offer a wonderful opportunity for me to apply my talents to solve a wide range of technical puzzles. I assisted the aircraft mechanics on overhaul and repair projects, I built camera and Lidar equipment, set up GPS and IMU systems, etc. For a while I was also an operator of this gear and then later was in charge of our local flight operations, training and dispatching flight crews. Every day was a new puzzle and it was a bit of a game to look at what resources we had available, where they were located, what work needed to be done, and what the weather patterns were changing into……..then try to make a plan to get the most out of the day. Then alter it. And alter it again sometimes. In Alaska, the weather is not nearly as easy to predict as in the lower 48. Sure, weather physics work the same…but weather forecasting is also based upon a statistical record of what happened before during a given set of conditions. To make a good forecast you need a good data record to model from. Alaska simply does not have as long of an historical record to draw from so the forecasts are not always as reliable and with climate change becoming more obvious, the patterns here are not always doing quite what they did over the last decade or two. The point is, it was fun for me. Very intense, busy, and fluid…but rewarding and fun. I appreciated doing the work and my bosses appreciated me. Of that I have little doubt.
Then the company was sold. This company had been through a few owners and changes before, but –at least at my level, it was relatively seamless. It was a relatively large company but still maintained its small business feel and was a happy place to be. The last sale and subsequent merger, however, made changes that were not enjoyable. Many of the people with whom I had worked with were removed, some replaced with others and some positions left vacant. All in the name of short term profit. Again, I will not name the names here or belabor the dirty details of what exactly happened….but needless to say, people were not being appreciated or even treated fairly in some instances. It was not fun anymore. It became stressful, and I could feel some health consequences from it. So I put in my notice and left. It was not an easy decision. Nor was it made in haste. I had made more effort over the last 18 months I was there than was reasonable. Even at that, it was a strange and unpleasant feeling to leave after so much time and spirit invested even though leaving was necessary for health and well being. A job is like any other relationship. And sometimes, sad to say, a job can even become like an abusive relationship….and just as hard to leave, in spite of how illogical that sounds.
So there I was. For the first time since I was “a kid” unemployed and without a specific plan. That may be nothing when you are 20, but at 46 I can assure you it is scary. For the vast majority of us there are expenses that simply do not go away.
I ended up taking the winter off. Doing some traveling with my wife–who is awesomely supportive of all this. Living off of savings and a modest, but steady stream of “ebay money.” You see, I am a hoarder. I collect and restore vintage mechanical and electronic type of items, scientific instruments, etc. A couple of years ago I assisted with selling items from the estate of a deceased friend. Not easy. But. I discovered that if I confined myself to buying and selling of items that I was knowledgeable and familiar with, I could do well with it. So, part of my way of covering the cost of my newfound freedom was to sell some of what I had collected. I did pretty well with it. Up until I started to run out of things I could bare to part with. Those things which I had gotten in order to study and learn from but which did not really fit into my main focus for my private museum. Still, I am a hoarder for such things and that means I am always on the lookout and such items tend to find me. How else does one end up with a lot of 9 surplus payphones for 43 dollars? (for the record, I’ve given away several, sold a few, and still have 3 left that if I were to toss them into the rubbish bin I’d still be money ahead on it) So, it finally occurred to me to consider combining my collecting/restoring instincts with a desire for road-trips and do some variation of this for a living…..or at least a good portion of a living. Granted, I had considered this before. …and certainly others in the world do it (how do you think antique stores operate?) But up until this time, I had never personally had the combination of time away from a job and the means to give it a go. The initial results were promising and enjoyable enough to consider it worthy of pursuit. OK. So we bought a used diesel truck and a 28ft toy-hauler style travel trailer (18ft of living space with an additional 10ft “garage” at the rear) from a friend who is also an exile from my former employer. Rather than hauling around snowmachines and four-wheelers in it while camping, we plan to rent our house out and live in the trailer for a while and use the garage space to try a little antiquing and other work while traveling. We will see how it goes.
This great plan, however, does require some initial startup money. The truck and trailer need some work done, which I’ve gotten about halfway through at this point….and driving to the lower 48 is expensive as well and so some trip money needs to be saved up—all while covering the usual operating expenses of life while at home. So. I took a summer job. I have been working as a mechanic in a shop where we work on passenger railroad cars for tourism. These are the big luxury dome window cars complete with kitchen and bar, etc. Lots of different systems involved with parts sourcing and maintenance covering almost every technical discipline you can name. It too, has been interesting for me. It is helping to pay the bills this summer and while not the highest paying work I have ever had, they definitely treat me well and make their appreciation for my talents and insights known….and, as it is seasonal, I am free to pursue my other ideas this winter and come back to their shop in the spring if I choose.
The spring start up, getting rail cars serviced, some refurbished, and all that goes into un-mothballing a fleet kept me rather busy and exhausted for the last couple of months. Hence my negligence to this blog effort. Hopefully in view of my somewhat lengthy excuse you will forgive me and not delete the bookmark that lead you here to begin with.
